Soccer icon Andrea Pirlo has made it clear that he believes wholesale changes are needed to the structure of Major League Soccer to challenge the world’s top leagues

Italy legend Andrea Pirlo knows first hand what it’s like to play in Major League Soccer.

Following an incredible career in Serie A, the midfield maestro spent three seasons with New York City FC before hanging up his cleats in 2017. In the years since, the MLS has continued to grow, attracting more big name players to its ranks including Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, and Marco Reus. However, Pirlo believes fundamental changes to the way the league operates are needed if it ever wishes to compete with the likes of the Premier League, La Liga, or Serie A.

“They need to change some of the rules, such as the salary cap, and align with the European leagues if they want to be able to compete,” Pirlo told the New York Post.

Interestingly, this comment comes less than a month after MLS executive vice president of sporting and competition Nelson Rodriguez claimed that he believed that in 30 years the league could be a world leader.

“I would expect in 30 years’ time for MLS to be the league of choice,” Rodriguez told ESPN, noting that this would require beating the likes of the Premier League. “I believe that the infrastructure that exists, not just physical, is the start of the cultural shift that is required to become the league of choice.”

And it isn’t just Rodrigez who harbors such ambitious dreams for the MLS. In 2020, England legend and Inter Miami part-owner and president David Beckham admitted that he hoped the league would be able to “challenge” Europe’s top flights in a decade.

David Beckham previously said he eventually wanted the MLS to ‘challenge’ other major leagues ( 
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Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
“It’s what we all hope for. It’s what we will strive to commit to,” he said, via The Guardian. “This should never be a league where players from Europe come to retire. That’s not where you want to be. It’s not where we want to be as owners, it’s not where we want to be as investors.”

The physical infrastructure may be in place while the sport continues to rapidly grow in popularity, but the fact of the matter is that as Pirlo eluded to, the MLS lags far behind its overseas counterparts in terms of salaries.

The MLS’ salary cap for 2025 is set at almost $744,000 per player, although this does not apply to each team’s three permitted Designated Players. These players, such as Messi, can be paid above the usual cap, while their cap hit will remain the same.

For example, Messi currently earns around $20 million annually, while Lorenzo Insigne of Toronto FC pockets around $15 million per year as the MLS’ second highest earner. As such, the DP rule – also known as the ‘Beckham Rule’ in honor of David for whom it was initially created – is a great way of attracting top-tier talents while still keeping the overall spend on a roster down.

But while $744,000 annually (just under $14,900 weekly) may be an exceptional salary for the majority of people, the fact is that for top soccer players, it’s relatively low. For example, the average salary in the Premier League is around $77,000 weekly.

To further emphasize the chasm between the leagues, the smallest total wage bill in the Premier League is currently Ipswich Town’s at $44 million. For comparison, in 2024 Inter Miami led the MLS at just over $41.7 million, via Statista.

With all this in mind, Pirlo may well have a salient point. If the MLS is ever to reach the highs that Rodriguez and Beckham dream of, large-scale changes will surely be needed.